Refractory wall for glass-tanks.



No. 811,223. PATENTBD JAN. 30, 1906. L. J. HOUZE. REFRACTORY WALL FORGLASS TANKS.

AIPLIUATION FILED AUG. 7, 1905.

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hereaoromr WALL Specification of Letters Patent.

Foa GLASS- -T'ANKS...

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Applieationfilad August 7, 1905. Serial No- 273,162.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, LEON J. HOUZE, a resident of Port Marion, in thecounty of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Refractory .Walls'for Glass-Tanks; and I do herebydeclare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

Myinvention-relates to tanks or furnaces for the melting of glass, andespecially to the construction of the refractory blocks comprising thewalls thereof.

The walls of glass-tanks are usually built up of blocks of suitablerefractory material and in the operation of such furnaces the moltenglass attacks these refractory blocks-and causes them to crumble or wearaway. Said'blocks crumble and wear away mostrapidly at or adjacent tothe top of the molten glass, where the action of the flux causesdisintegration, and also quite rapidly at the. joints between theblocks. The wallsare liable to become so worn at places during the firethat it is necessary to restore the blocks in places, which necessitatesthe shutting down of the furnace or withdrawing the glass below thelevel of the worn portion, so that new blocks may be inserted. The fireusually lasts about eight months of the year, and it is very desirableto continue the operation of melting and withdrawing the glass withoutcessation during this period; but this has been practically impossibleheretofore in tanks of this character.

The object of my invention is to provide blocks for the walls of thetank so constructed that said blocks will be air-cooled, andthusincrease their life, and if worn away so constructed as to permit of thereinforcing of the .wall at such weak spots in order to prolong its lifeuntil the'end of the fire at least.

To these endsmyinvention comprises, generally stated, a glass-tank whosewalls are formed of refractory blocks so formed as to provideair-recesses in their outer faces, where.- by the wall is cooled soas toprevent its rapiddisintegration and also in auxiliary block's adapted tobe placed and held in said recesses for the purpose of desired point.

' lln the accompanying drawings, Figure. I is a'sectional plan view of aglass-tank embodying my invention. ti-cal section of a portion of theWalls of the tank, showing the walls intact. 3- is alike view showingthe wall practically worn reinforcing the walls at the;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged ver-' Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one' of theblocks.

partmeut of a'suitable glass-tank, and 3 the drawing-out compartment.have employed this simple form of glass-tank to illustrate my invention,although it will be apparent that it may be applied to tanks of anyother desired form. Within the drawing-out compartments are theordinaryrings 4.

gas from a system of pipes 5, by means of which the gas is conv'eyedtosuitable combustion-fines, all of which forms'no part of my inventionandis not illustrated in detail. The walls 6 are builtup of blocks ofrefractory material, and the arch 7 is supported upon the wallsection 8,which is independent of the portion 6. This wall portion 8 is supportedupon a suitable shelf 9, which is carried by the buckstays composed ofchannel-beams 10,

ing supporting columns. These channelbeams 10 are arranged in pairs backto back and carry the brackets 11.

Heretofore the walls 6 have been built up of solid blocksofregularshape. Said blocks -\wear away quite rapidly, due to thechemicals in the glass and the very high heat at which the furnaces'mustbe run. They wear away especially at the level of the glass, due to theaction of the flux which is at the surface of the glass. This wears awaythe upper tier of blocks somewhat in the shapeindicated by the dottedline 12, Fig. 2.. The blocks also wear away quite rapidlyat the joints,the hot glass entering the joint and cutting the blocks away somewhat inthe shape shown by the dotted line 13, Fig. 2. This wearing away is sorapid that the top blocks must be renewed several times at each fire.Even the second tier of blocks becomes so worn that they no longerpresent a suflicient horizontal seat to hold the .top blocks in place,so that the second tier must also be frequently renewed. The renewal ofthese blocks not only'entails a conglass in the tank, frequentlyresulting in'bad glass, and also necessitates lowering the heat andstopping the making of glass, so that at le t a week is lost at eachrenewal. I

fil ire high heat to which the blocks are subject is the prime cause ofthe rapid wearing away with reinforcingblocks in position, and

The numeral 2 designates the melting-com- The melting-compartment2 issupplied with arranged atsuitable intervals apart and formsiderableexpense for material and labonbut '='it is also necessary to lower thelevel of, the

away of the blocks. Heretofore these blocks have been solid shapes ofconsiderable length, so that the air on the outer face of the walls haspractically no effect in reducing the temperature at the inner ends ofthe blocks.

My invention aims to so construct the blocks, and especially those forthe upper row or tier, that the air on the outer face of-the wall willmaterially reduce the temperature at the inner ends of the blocks, thuspreventing their rapid disintegration and greatly increasing the lifethereof. This may be accomplished in several ways, the drawings showingwhat I COilSldBI the best manner of securing this resu t.

The upper row of blocks 14 of the wall 6 are L-shaped in form, so thatwhen placed in position they form an air-recess 15 on their under faces.openings 16, which are closed by small blocks 17 on the inside of thewall-section 8. As a consequence a large portion of the bodies of theblocks 14 are exposed to the air on their upper, lower, and outer faces.This results 'in keeping these blocks comparatively cool at their innerends, so that'they do not wear away as rapidly as the old form ofblocks. While I have illustrated the blocks it as formed in one piece,it is apparent that they may be formed in two pieces, being divided onthe dotted line 18, Fig. 2.

As stated, the greatest'wear is on the upper tier of blocks 14, and theobject of my invention is attained by shaping these blocks in the mannerdescribed. If desired, the same principle can be applied to the lowerblocks, and especially at the joints, although this is not necessary,since such blocks usually last' out a fire as now constructed. By myimprovement they can he made to last several fires. As shown, theseblocks are cut away on their upper and lower faces, so as to formrecesses 19 on their outer faces at the joints, which recesses extendaround the furnace and cool the blocks at the joints, so that the glasswill not Wear them away as rapidly as with the old form of blocks.

With my new form of blocks the inner faces naturally become worn orcrumbled, but less rapidly than with the old form of blocks.Furthermore, the flux and glass do not cut in as deeply, but the innerfaces of the blocks will assume somewhat the shape shown in Fig. 3.Where the walls of the furnace wear, so that from the exterior of thetank red spots appear, which indicate that the wall is becoming thin,reinforcing-blocks 20 are insertedinto the recess 15, as indicated inFig. 3, which blocks reinforce the worn blocks and extend the life ofthe wall until the end of the fire. Similar blocks 21 are placed in therecesses 19. There is always present a solid horizontal seat or surfaceon which these reinforcin -blocks rest, so that they will always be inproper position.

Above the blocks 14: are the In order to secure these reinforcingblocksin place, I employ the threaded rods or bolts 23, which pass through thethreaded holes in the brackets 11 on the buckstays 10, with inner endsbearing against angle-bars 24:, in contact with the reinforcing-blocksthemselves. In this way the rein forcing-blocks are securely held inplace against the outward pressure of the molten glass in the tank.These rods are provided at their outer ends with rings 25, or othersuitable means, by which they may be readily turned to position. It maybe found necessary to employ the reinforcing-blocks for the entirecircumference of the surface, or only for portions thereof, wherever theappearance from the outside in? dicates that the wall is getting thin. Ihave indicated in Fig. 1 these reinforcing-blocks arranged for somedistance along the walls of the furnace. Furthermore, if the first setof reinforcing-blocks donot last through the fire another set ofreinforcing-blocks may still be inserted in the recess 15, as indicatedin dotted lines 26, Fig. 3, and even a third or fourth set may beinserted, if necessary. In this manner by the insertion of thereinforcingblocks as may be found necessary the life of the wall of thefurnace may be extended without lowering the level of the'glass in thefurnace or interfering in any way with the continuous operation of thefurnace, so that no time is lost in letting the furnace cool down forrepairs to the wall. Since the-recesses 15 are located below the levelof the glass, they, together with the reinforcing-blocks 20, ofier aready means for renewing the walls below the level of the glass andwithout the necessity of lowering the same. The reinforcing-blocks arereadily inserted in position and held securely therein, so that there isno liability of the furnace breaking out at any of the points ofreinforcement.

' It will be found that the recesses l5 and 19 y l. A glass-tank havinga vertical wall of re- I fractory material, a portion of said wall beingformed of blocks so shaped and laid that their outer end and ahorizontal face for at least one-third the length of the blocks areexposed to the atmosphere.

, 2'. A glass-tank having a vertical wall of refractory material,provided on its outer face with an air-recess which extends inwardly forat least one-third the thickness of the wall and is open to theatmosphere.

3. A glasstank having a vertical wall formed of refractory material, aportion of said, wall being formed of L-shaped blocks forming a recesson the outer face of the wall of the block to the atmosphere.

AA glass-tank having a vertical wall formed of refractory material aportion thereof'being formed of blocks so shaped and laid as to providea recess on their outer faces at the joints between the blocks, therebyexposing the outer ends and a portion 'ofthe horizontal faces of saidblocks to the atmosphere.

5. A glass-tank having a vertical wall of refractory material providedon its outer face with an air-recess extending inwardly for at leastone-third of the thickness of the Wall, and being open to theatmosphere, and adapted to receive reinforcing-blocks.

6. A glass-tank having a vertical wallformed of refractory material, aportion thereof being formed of |l .-shaped blocks so laid as to form anair-recess on the outer face of the walhand exposingthe outer ends and apor- 'sition.

.8. A glass-tank having a recess formed in the outer face of its walladjacent to the level of the molten glass, reinforcing-blocks in saidrecess, and meansfor' holding said blocks in position. r

9. A glass-tank having a vertical wall formed of refractory material,the upper portion of said [wall being formed of blocks so shaped andlaid as to provide a recess on the outer face of the wall located belowthe level of the glass, and exposing the outer ends and a portion of thehorizontal faces of said blocks to the atmosphere. 10. A 'glass tankhaving a vertical Wall formed of refractory material provided on itsouter face below the level of the glass in the tank with a recess opento the atmosphere and adapted to receive reinforcing-blocks.

1i. Aglass-tank having a wall formed of. re-

fractory material, and means for applying reinforcing-blocks to theouter face thereof below the level of the glass in the tank.

- 12. A glass-tank having a wall formed of refractory materialv providedon its outer face with a recess below the level of the glass in thetank, said recess being adapted to receive refractory reinforcingmaterial.

in testimony whereof I, the said LEON J. Home, have hereunto set myhand. i LEON J. HOUZE. Witnesses:

J J. Lamar, W. A; MoCAHoN.

